Kalbeliya, the snake dance from the state of Rajasthan is a piece of art performed by the kalbeliya tribe .The word Kalbeliya is a blend of two words which are ‘Kal’ and ‘Beliya’. The word ‘Kal’ means snake and ‘Beliya’ means friends and hence the word all together means Snakes friend.It is danced to celebrate the happy moment in the community. Both men and women participate in Kalbeliya dance. This tribe is a nomadic tribe who was basically snake-charmers from Rajasthan and has been tabooed as the scheduled and the untouchable caste. They were banned and seen down by the society so for their living, they have found cures for snake bites, making people’s house free of snakes and making tourist aware of the snakes and of course the snake dances. This tribe has been living and following the same routine, traditions and their lifestyle since the medieval times and have learnt to earn their living through all these means of occupation and employment.
The men used to earn money through all these activities and the women of this tribe used to occasional dance on the streets on festivals with an aim to earn the extra money from the rich. The ladies wear long heavily embroidered mirror worked black skirt called as lehnga and a silver thread worked Choli and Chunris. The women deck up with heavy silver jewelries that include beautifully carved jhumka, neck piece and tikka.
